Across Time
by Aurore Verlaine
Summary: Collection of standalone AU Merthur oneshots:: I. Supermodel: Merlin is thrilled to land a prestigious internship at Viva Camelot, a fashion magazine. What he's not so thrilled about is his first assignment-- interviewing Arthur Pendragon.
1. Chapter 1: Supermodel

**Disclaimer**:: Merlin (c) BBC

**Notes**:: Just something to satisfy my inner Merthur fangirl =) Hope you like. If anyone has any ideas they want me to try, feel free to tell me via PM or review.

* * *

**Across Time: Chicken Soup for a Merthur Lover's Soul  
**

A collection of AU Merthur standalone oneshots

**Chapter I: Supermodel**

Merlin is thrilled to land a prestigious internship at Viva Camelot, a fashion magazine. What he's not so thrilled about is his first assignment-- interviewing Arthur Pendragon.

--

"...I'm suddenly not sure if this is such a good idea." Merlin bit his lip. "I want to throw up."

"I smell a drama queen tantrum coming." Lancelot grinned, rolling his eyes, "Honestly, you'll do fine, you landed the interview with no sweat, didn't you? Half the guys piss their pants halfway through the appointment process. You'll land the internship, no problem. Just go in there and give them hell. Merlin the extraordinaire. They call you that for a reason, don't they?"

"I don't feel like an extraordinaire right now, thank you." Merlin griped, "Gwen, will you please tell your boyfriend to say something encouraging and helpful instead of freaking me out?"

Gwen laughed, her name was Guinevere, but as far as Merlin knew, her name was a mistake, her parents wanted to name or something exotic, but Guinevere just grew up looking like a 'Gwen', so it stayed that way. "I think Lancelot's being plenty helpful, Merlin. And he's right you know, you are a bit of a drama queen sometimes, just be yourself, you'll be fine."

"But if I blow this, it'd be all over. And besides, Morgana Le Fay will be interviewing me. I didn't talk to her when I made the interview." Merlin sighed, "I've seen her on television, she's a scary bitch."

"Which...sort of brings me back to my original question: why do you want to work for a bitch, again?" Lancelot raised his eyebrow.

"_Lancelot_." Gwen gave her boyfriend a stern look, "Now you're really not helping."

"I want to work for Viva Camelot...not my fault that Morgana Le Fay runs the place with an iron fist." Merlin glanced at his watch, "Anyway, I gotta go." He got out of the car and threw a wave over his shoulder, "See you guys...if I make it out alive."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, we'll be back here to meet you for coffee, okay?" Gwen hurriedly waved at him, before Lancelot could come up with some smart retort. "Break a leg, Merlin. You'll be great."

--

Merlin's euphoria lasted a total of about seven seconds, maybe less. Whatever confidence he mustered outside the door, disappeared the moment he was shown to the office of Morgana Le Fay. The kid that led him there paused outside the door with a faint grin, "Good luck in there, Morgana's not that scary if you get to know her. Just don't freak out in the middle of things, she really hates it when people are freaking out."

"...Ah, thanks." _I think._ That certainly helped. A lot.

"No problem. Anyway, I'll be here if you need anything...after your interview, of course. It doesn't take long." The boy opened the door, "After you."

Morgana Le Fay's office was big, and it was clean. There was a leather couch against one wall, and a coffee table with a vase. The vase only had a single rose in it. There was also a rack of what looked to be unfinished clothing, and her desk sat in the middle of the room. She sat there, hard at work flipping through a fashion spread. Morgana only looked up when his guide stood directly in front of her desk.

"Morgana, your appointment for 2pm is here. Might I introduce Merlin?"

She rolled her eyes, "I live for your drama, Mordred, I really do. Thanks for brightening up my day."

"You're very welcome." Mordred turned, as he did, he clapped Merlin on the shoulder, "It's your show, don't screw it up."

"Thanks, Mordred."

Mordred was gone, and Merlin went back to feeling very naked and very stupid in front of Morgana Le Fay. She couldn't have been that much older than he was, but she looked more imposing than she'd ever had on television. "So...are you just going to stand there gaping at me or are you actually going to sit and talk?"

Merlin closed his mouth, "Oh, yeah...sorry. My name's Merlin. I'm here for the err, interview."

"Well, pull up a chair. Don't look at me like that, I don't bite." Morgana put her fashion spread aside, "Coffee?"

"...I drink tea." Merlin said.

"Well, then, tea?" She smiled at him, it was an almost welcoming smile, "Come on, I need a reason to boss Mordred around."

"...Yeah, okay, I guess I'll have some tea."

--

Forty-five minutes and two cups of tea later, Merlin emerged from Morgana's office all smiles. Mordred leaned against the opposite wall looking so amused. "So, I guess I'm the first to say, Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Mordred walked with him to the door, "When do you start?"

"She told me Thursday."

"Ah, so you'll start your first day of work on a hell day." Mordred smirked, "That certainly sounds like Morgana Le Fay. All the publications have to be done by Friday, so Thursday's pretty much hell day for everyone...me included. Even though I technically don't do anything except deliver tea or and harass Morgana."

"Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, tons of fun." Mordred nodded his head cheerily, "More fun than your first assignment, I'm guessing. What is it? Usually Morgana gives out something impossible. It's something like initiation."

...That didn't sound appetizing at all, Merlin blinked at him, "What was yours?"

"Mine? Eh...it was more of a formality, since I'm Morgana's cousin and technically she's not allowed to do anything to me. Mine was a joke really." Mordred shrugged, "I had to plan a surprise party for Gaius our night janitor...he's deathly suspicious of everything, so it's pretty hard to surprise him. I managed though, somehow." He gestured to the thin file Merlin held, "Search for the purple post-it, it's in there, somewhere."

After a minute, Merlin held out the purple post-it. In a neat hand and blue pen, Morgana had written:

_Interview Arthur Pendragon for next Friday's issue. ~ Morgana._

"You've got to be kidding me, are you serious?" Mordred snatched the post-it from Merlin and squinted at it, as if that would make the right words appear, when it didn't, Mordred handed back the post-it with a shake of his head. "Boy, she really must hate you. Arthur Pendragon? That's _harsh_."

"Why?" Merlin asked faintly.

"Oh, no reason, Arthur Pendragon's up and coming. He's also the biggest prat you'll ever meet in your lifetime." Mordred shrugged, "I interviewed him once, I was filling in for someone; I swear, every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to bash his face in. Good luck with that."

--

"What's wrong, Merlin?" Lancelot settled next to him on the couch, "For someone who just landed a dream job, you don't look so happy."

"I'm not." Merlin popped open a new can of beer, he had started drinking out of celebration, and the longer he thought about his pending assignment on Thursday, it turned into drinking out of depression. "I have to make initiation."

"So? It can't be any worse than pledging, can't it?"

Merlin looked at Lancelot, "...Actually, yeah, it can. When Arthur Pendragon's involved."

Gwen, who had just answered the room, fairly tripped on her feet, "Did I just hear you say 'Arthur Pendragon'?"

"Yep, I have to interview him on Thursday. Totally looking forward to it." Merlin wiped his mouth, "Don't start salivating all at once now, Gwen. He's a prat, have you ever seen him on television? He has an ego five miles high!"

"So? He's good looking."

"...Excuse me?" Lancelot raised an eyebrow.

Gwen quickly cleared her throat, "You're better looking." She pecked him primly on the cheek, "But honestly, he's Arthur Pendragon! Wipe that frown off your face, Merlin, surely it can't be that bad."

Merlin did, by drowning more beer. He was not looking forward to Thursday at all.

--

Arthur Pendragon was something of a wonder, he was only twenty-three, a year older than Merlin, but toted an extensive resume, in the last year alone, he attended over forty shoots in several different countries, The States, England, France, even Korea. He'd appeared as the poster child of good looks in the top fashion magazines, Viva Camelot included. He was not opposed to walking the runway nude (he had done that once in Switzerland, the show had sold out) Arthur's private life was a mess, he dated girls and guys and--

Merlin nearly blanched

"As long as they're not horrible to look at, I guess that's enough for me. I'm not that picky of a guy." So Arthur Pendragon told Elle, in an interview just two months ago. Merlin put down the file in disgust, he was starting to feel like a sellout without morals just _reading _these stupid interviews.

"Hey," Said Mordred out of nowhere, "You about ready to go?"

"Who are you, my designated driver?"

"Yeah, you drive a junk bucket, I'm supposed to get you to the interview in high style. Oh, and in case you need to cry after Arthur Pendragon's done with you, I'm supposed to buy you a cup of tea and nurse your wounds." Mordred grinned, "It's going to be fun, come on."

Yeah, Merlin thought, real fun.

--

Merlin spotted Arthur Pendragon the moment he entered the cafe. Mordred had left him alone to go hang somewhere, but now Merlin wished that he had told Mordred to stay. Arthur Pendragon was intimidating halfway across the room. He also had a girl on his arm--gee, how surprising was that? Merlin sucked furiously on his ice tea for comfort.

"Hey, you from Viva Camelot?"

"Err..." Merlin was momentarily at a loss for words. The only coherent thought seeing top model Arthur Pendragon across the table was: _Well, isn't he bloody gorgeous? _He promptly kicked himself under the table.

"Well? Are you or aren't you?" Arthur demanded.

Merlin recovered, "Yeah, I mean...yes, I am. My name's Merlin." He stumbled clumsily to his feet and held out a hand for Arthur to shake. "Pleased to meet you." (What he really wanted to say was "You look even better in person.")

But Arthur just stared at him, like Merlin was some fly that landed unawares in his onion soup or something like that, "Are you...sure you're from Viva Camelot?"

Feeling foolish, Merlin dropped his hand, "Yeah, why?"

"_Because_." Arthur tasted the word like delectable chocolate and still looked at Merlin like he was scum stuck on his shoe, "Because, I thought Morgana Le Fay would have better sense than to send you to me dressed like..." a faint well placed sneer graced his lips, "_that_."

Merlin certainly didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was wearing. Sure, perhaps his button-up shirt and jeans were a little plain, but they were no cause for Arthur to sneer like that.

"You can't blame her." Merlin said defensively, "...I didn't see Morgana today."

"Well, you should have. Even without her, though, you'd think you'd have some sense not to wear light colors, it makes you look like a emaciated ghost." Arthur replied smoothly, as he sat down. The girl that he was with stuck her tongue boldly into his ear and said something about a manicure next door.

"Yeah, fine, whatever, I'll come find you."

Merlin averted his eyes, and took out his note pad. In bold strokes, he penned: _Arthur Pendragon is a prat._

The interview would go downhill from there.

-

A week later, the minute Merlin showed up to work, Mordred was there to meet him. "...Morgana's ticked at you." He reported somberly, "She wants you in her office, now."

Merlin's mind started whirling a mile a minute. What had he done? Well, there was that one time on Friday, where he had taken forever with the copies because the copier machine decided to break when everyone needed it the most--that wasn't his fault. But there was also that time on Monday, when Mordred was late to work and Merlin became the designated coffee boy. He forgot to mention on his resume that he didn't make coffee. And then there was--

"...I think it's about the Arthur Pendragon interview. The little blurb that you wrote." Mordred told him, "I thought it was hilarious because everyone knows he's a prat, but...I don't think she's too happy about that."

Oh, yeah. He had almost forgotten about that. Arthur Pendragon, however good looking he was, wasn't someone that Merlin wanted to remember. "...Oh."

As expected, Morgana didn't look to amused to see him, "...So. Would you please explain to me what possessed you to write 'Arthur Pendragon is a prat'?"

"Err..." Why they'd even published it if everyone was so pissed off about it was a better question, or so Merlin thought. "I'm sorry, it just...he insulted me."

"Arthur Pendragon insults everyone." Morgana shot back, "The first rule of the fashion business? Don't let him get to you." She fixed him with a venomous glare. "I want you to go over to his flat right now and apologize. His stupid agent put me through hell this morning. He threatened to call a press conference. You got me into this mess, you get me out of it, or else you're done here."

"I--"

"And for God's sake, get Mordred to pick something from the bin for you to wear. Tell him to take my car again."

-

"You should have told me what to wear the first time." Merlin told Mordred without much humor, "Maybe he wouldn't have insulted me." That wasn't to say he liked his new clothes, everything felt at least a size too small, and Merlin already thought he was skinny.

"He insults everyone." Mordred looked at him, "What makes you so special?" He parked the car alongside a curb, "That building, the sixth floor. I'll wait out here for you, I'm guessing you won't take long."

"I'll be out of there in thirty seconds." promised Merlin.

-

"...Properly dressed this time, Merlin. I'm impressed." Arthur Pendragon opened the door for him with a wide smirk. "Come in." Surprisingly, he didn't have a girl glued to his side this time. But Merlin took the high road and refused the urge to say so.

Merlin wondered why Arthur remembered his name. The model was famous, met tons of people every day...but he remembered Merlin's name. Well, when he thought about it again, it made sense, if someone wrote about him being a prat in a magazine, he'd probably remember the guy's name too. He shook his head, "...No thanks, I'm not staying."

"I said, come _in_, Merlin." Arthur's voice now had an edge to it, "Rule Two when talking to a famous person: you _don't _refuse me."

Biting his lip, Merlin stepped in the door. "I"m still not staying, Arthur." Because it felt weird to call a guy like that Mr. Pendragon, or sir.

"Not even when I'm trying to be hospitable?" Arthur ducked briefly into what appeared to be the kitchen and came back with two cans of beer. He tossed one to Merlin, who nearly dropped it.

"Thanks but no thanks. I don't drink so early in the morning."

"It's not morning." Arthur popped open his own can and sloshed down a large gulp; somehow, he still made the motion seem exquisite, elegant. "It's 2pm."

Merlin held his ground, he was close to just abandoning all pretenses and running out the door. He wasn't sure what it was about Arthur Pendragon and his brand-name clothing and smirks that still looked good, no matter how much Merlin disliked the guy. "I don't want a drink. Seriously, I'm just supposed to apologize, and then I'll get out of your hair."

"...So, I'm sorry, and then you walk out of here."

"Well, yeah." Merlin looked down at the beer can in his hand.

"After you wrote the article, read by people in Korea, about how I was a prat." Arthur gave him a look, "What made you think I was going to let you off easy?"

"But you are a prat."Merlin said, "I stand by the fact that if you'd been somewhat civil, I wouldn't have written that."

"I was civil." Arthur said, "And besides, you're properly dressed now." He drank more beer, "It was all for a good cause."

"I disagree."

Arthur smirked at him, "Rule Three when talking to a famous person: you don't contradict me." So saying, he took one step, and then another, and then another, until Merlin found himself pinned against the wall. Even though he hadn't even finished an entire can yet, the alcohol was prevalent on Arthur and it made Merlin's head swim. "You might find that your life might be easier that way."

"Arthur--what are you doing?"

"Seducing you in order to humiliate you, what does it look like, Merlin?"Arthur's mouth found his throat, "If at any point and time you feel like reciprocating, I won't mind."

Alarm bells went off in Merlin's head then, but those bells died down when he realized it was_ Arthur Pendragon_ doing wondrous things to his body. Things that girls all over would die to have him do. And at the moment, (though Merlin would never, ever admit it outside the private recesses of his own brain) he knew why. "Arthur..." Somehow, his hands found their way to Arthur's hips, "These aren't...my clothes."

"...Thanks, I couldn't tell." Arthur pulled away briefly, "I'll be careful not to tear anything."

Merlin wanted to tell Arthur that seducing him didn't make things any better, Arthur was still no less of a prat, even though he was doing unimaginable things to him. "...I'm going to want to kill you later. Probably."

"Let me change your mind."

-

Later, actually, a full two hours later, Merlin sat naked on Arthur Pendragon's bed holding a can of beer. He drained it and started to get dressed. His mind was still mush and he couldn't quite work up the courage to tell Arthur Pendragon that he was going to kill him. Things hadn't changed, not one bit.

Arthur walked into the room, also as nature intended, and sat. Merlin averted his eyes.

"Nothing you haven't seen."

"I'm still going to kill you." Merlin said, to himself, he also didn't sound too convincing.

"...We'll see about that." Arthur tipped his face up and kissed him, "Will you at least rewrite our interview? I honestly liked this one better."

Mordred was probably going to kill him. Thirty seconds had dragged on into two hours. And Merlin didn't even want to think about Morgana. Merlin forced himself to shrug, noncommittally. "Maybe, I"ll think about it."

* * *

_Completed ~ 05/11/09_


	2. Chapter 2: Absence Makes The Heart

**Across Time: Chicken Soup for a Merthur Lover's Soul  
**

A collection of AU Merthur standalone oneshots

**Chapter II: Absence Makes the Heart  
**

A heart in love is blind, but a jealous heart has eyes. Arthur suffers through a sleepless night when Merlin doesn't pick up the phone.

--

"You'll call." Arthur said, holding tight to Merlin's hands. "As soon as you get there."

"Yes, Arthur, the moment I get there, I'll call you." Merlin grinned at him, "I'll call you every day." He pulled Arthur in for one last kiss, it was sloppy, wet, and full of promises, "Come on, don't look at me like that, I'll only be gone for a semester and I'll be back before you know it."

"This is the final boarding call for Flight 4637 to Montreal." The speakers blared rudely.

"Bye, Arthur." Merlin flipped a careless wave over his shoulder, as he hitched his faded carry on bag over one shoulder,"I"ll call as soon as I get there." He paused, and then, as if just remembering something really important, he added sheepishly, "Bye, Morgana."

Morgana grinned and latched onto Arthur's arm, "Don't mind me, Merlin. I know you're too busy with lover-boy here anyway. Have fun in Montreal, Give me a call if you get tired of calling Arthur, okay?"

"Hey!"

She elbowed him so hard in the ribs that Arthur he broke a couple. But Merlin only laughed, he blew Arthur a kiss, and then disappeared down the terminal, walking briskly behind a woman and her two kids.

"Come on, Arthur." Ever the good cousin, Morgana smiled at him, "I'll buy you coffee, you're really cute when you're moping around like a dog, though. Merlin hasn't been gone five minutes, and you're already looking like the world ended. How are you going to live out the semester?"

"Maybe I'm not." Arthur said, already feeling a dark cloud set over him. He was starting to think that taking the high road and letting Merlin take that internship to godforsaken Montreal was not a good idea. Maybe he should have acted a bit more needy when Merlin asked him over coffee if Arthur was going to be all right without him for an entire semester. It was ridiculous, really. Arthur Pendragon was one of the most popular boys on campus. He played tennis, was rugby captain, and ran track. In fact, he would even venture to say that he was THE most popular guy on campus. He was at the top of every party list, right along with his cousin, the manipulative Morgana Le Fay.

Certainly he could survive an entire semester without his pre-med boyfriend, who was a bit of a nerd anyway. Besides, Merlin didn't have to go all the way to Montreal to work, he had plenty of opportunities right here. If he wanted space so badly, Arthur would oblige, gladly.

"Melodrama doesn't suit you. Just snap out of it, Arthur." Morgana slid a large cup of coffee across the table. "Oh, and there's a party at Albion Hall tonight, you might want to go. It promises to be good."

--

Arthur did go, but he excused himself without even drinking his fill. Merlin hadn't called and Arthur didn't think it was quite fair to talk to his boyfriend wasted. So he walked back to his dorm and settled with a book that he was supposed to be reading for philosophy anyway when his phone rang.

He groped for the phone, nearly falling off the bed.

"Merlin?"

"The one." Merlin was laughing at him. "...What happened? You sound out of it."

Merlin probably could tell he wasn't breathing right, Arthur wasn't going to lie to him. He heaved himself back on the bed. "I...went to a party and drank a little, I fell off the bed just now."

"Did you actually leave the party _early_?"

"...Well, of course. You're the idiot that wouldn't call earlier." Arthur sulked. "Did you want me to answer drunk?"

"I"m sorry, they carted me off to the hospital the moment I got off the plane. On the plane they served peanuts and the hospital staff conveniently forgot to " Merlin sighed, "I'm so sore all over, I'm sorry I couldn't call earlier." Still, Arthur could feel a smile on Merlin's lips, "...How did your first day as a free man go?"

As if. Merlin should be sorry he even brought it up. "Do you even have to ask?"

"I hang on the arm of the most popular guy in school. I can't be a little paranoid about what happens with you when I'm not around?" Merlin sounded endlessly amused still. "Sorry then."

Despite himself, Arthur felt his face flush. He hated sentimentalities, he had no idea why; he just always disliked them. Therefore, Merlin never told him that he loved him or missed him. Merlin trusted Arthur to read between the lines of what he was saying, and Arthur loved him for it. Merlin did not trust easy. "Well, to set your mind at ease, nothing happened, okay? Cecilia Latham tried to grope me at the party, but I swear, nothing happened."

"Cecilia Latham, captain of girls' track?" Arthur closed his eyes, he saw an adorably horrified look on Merlin's face, "That's disgusting! What did you do?"

"...I left. What else do you _think_ I'd do?"

"Oh. That's okay then."

Over the phone, he could hear Merlin breathing, It was almost funny how they could still share companionable silences over the phone. At last, Arthur broke it, "How was your day?"

"Well, excepting the fact that I didn't get to eat anything and had to observe three surgeries and write reports on all of them? My day was pretty eventful. I like Montreal, it's beautiful. It only takes fifteen to walk from my apartment to the hospital."

"How is your apartment?"

"Not as lavished as your place. Obviously. But it's big, and we get our own bedrooms and bathrooms so there's probably not going to be any problems or anything. We only have to sharing the sitting room and the kitchen." He heard a heavy thump, "I have a roommate. Will's an intern too, a couple of years ahead of me. He's from Australia. Graduated from the University of Sydney." Arthur lived in the dorms on the days he had class, but when he didn't, he escaped to a private flat. Most of the time, whenever he could manage, Merlin went with.

Arthur fairly growled, "Sounds like an accomplished guy, this Will."

"Yeah, he is. After working with him, I figure I still have a lot to learn." Merlin laughed, "But there's time for that." Arthur heard steps and then running water.

"You're trying to get me jealous?"

"No, just telling the truth. Besides, he has a girlfriend back home." There was the sloshing of water, "And I have you."

Arthur's face warmed appreciatively. "What are you doing?"

"I just spilled bath salts by the gallon into my bath water..." Merlin probably looked confused and indecisive, but not worried. "The housekeeper is probably not going to be pleased with me." He was probably exaggerating about the gallon, but Arthur's mind floated elsewhere. Somewhere not so honorable.

"Merlin, are you...naked?"

There was a pause, "Almost."

Arthur's breath hitched.

"I'm wearing my shirt...these buttons are impossible with one hand. But other than that..." Merlin's voice now held a husky edge, "I leave to your willing imagination."

"You are a _tease_." An awful, terrible tease. Arthur tried to direct his thoughts towards a cold shower. But that was mostly counterproductive as the cold shower had a Merlin all naturale in it.

"So? What are you going to do? Be a gentleman and go take a cold shower?"

Arthur bit his lip, "I'm proud of my self control, thank you very much."

There was a pause. Too long of a pause. And then Merlin said, "I'm naked now. Buttons took forever."

Arthur slammed down the phone and fled to the showers. It was late, and he was glad no one was there to hear him.

--

Arthur took his time getting up the next day. It was odd to have his bed feel empty. The bed across from his settled against the wall was also empty. It was all just empty. He laid still in bed for a couple of moments, and then reached for his phone. Actually, he felt sort of guilty having Merlin call him, since Merlin wasn't the one with the unlimited cash flow and the rates for overseas calls were insane.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Good timing. I'm just about to wolf down a club sandwich, run to the restroom, and then get back to work. As long as you don't mind me talking with my mouth full." Merlin's voice sounded decidedly broken, as if he wasn't in a place with good reception. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah..." And a part of him felt guilty because Merlin was working his ass off and Arthur was lounging in bed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, this club sandwich is the pits though...makes me miss your cooking."

"...Hey."

"What? You know it's true, you can't cook to save your life." There was a rude gulp over the phone, "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"I'm about to." Yes, Arthur Pendragon could not cook to save his life, but that did not give Merlin any leave to just rub it in his face like that.

"Good, I bought you more coffee beans before I left. Should be right next to the microwave."

"Thanks."

Now there was clanging, muffled rustling, "Hey, I'm going to have to go, one of the patients just coded and they want me there. I'll talk to you later, love you."

And with that, Merlin was gone. Arthur realized he was gone before he could tell Merlin that he was naked. But then he supposed Merlin knew that already, his boyfriend was no stranger to his bed. And he two words hung dreamily in Arthur's thoughts for the rest of the day.

-

"You're moping." Morgana accused him as she slid into the seat next to his for lecture. "Seriously, you have the cutest hurt puppy look of anyone I know."

She. Was. Enjoying. This. Way. Too. Much. Usually, people knew better than to use the words 'cute' and 'puppy' together in a sentence describing Arthur Pendragon, of all people. But not Morgana. "I'm going to hurt you." He grumbled, tearing a fresh sheet from his notebook. The only person that he'd ever allow to use 'cute' and 'puppy' was Merlin. Merlin only. (And even that wasn't all that often.)

"Try."

He almost did. But then he remembered he was supposed to be a gentleman.

-

Merlin called him that night, it was getting to be midnight and he had a paper due, but he welcomed any distraction. Especially if it was a call from Merlin. "...What time is it over there?"

"...It's late, but I can't sleep." Merlin said, "You know, when you're dead tired, and you can't fall asleep no matter how hard you try? It's one of those."

"Homesickness?"

"Yeah, it's really cold here. I'm not used to it." Merlin admitted readily. "I don't have to get up so early tomorrow. Will says he's taking my shift."

Arthur refused to be bated into talking about Will again. "Or you could just admit you miss me." He pointed out, "I'll allow you to be sentimental once in a while."

"I miss you."

There was a warm silence. Arthur said, though he was oddly embarassed to say it, "Me too."

Thankfully, Merlin doesn't dwell on it. "Are you pulling an all nighter?"

"...I have your coffee to keep me company." Arthur smiled to himself (it was safe because Merlin was not here to see it.) "I had track practice and completely forgot about this paper. Paying for it now, I suppose."

"Ah. What's it about?"

"Plato."

"...Oh, sorry, can't help you."

"Figured." Arthur picked up his pen again, this day and age, everyone typed on a computer; but Arthur Pendragon working on a blaring screen while coffee sustained him did not make for good results. The hum of the machine annoyed him so much that he always handwrote his papers. Surprisingly, he had a neat hand, and no one complained. "You should be getting to bed."

"I should..." Merlin faltered, "It's almost five in the morning."

"Then get some sleep. I don't want you to come back only to die on me." Arthur said, "I'll be here, and I'll call you when I wake up."

"All right, then."

Perhaps it was only Arthur's hopeful ears playing tricks on him, but Merlin sounded reluctant. "And Merlin?"

"Mm?"

"I love you, good night." And Arthur hung up. He went back to Plato and hoped that Merlin dreamt about those words.

--

The next morning was a miscalculation altogether. First, Arthur was late to lecture, forgot his paper, had to go back for it. The track captain had shown up to practice extremely sore about something or the other, and his subordinates had suffered for it. Of course, it didn't suit Arthur that Tom Crowell beat him for the captain spot and therefore had the authority to run practice to the ground...but he supposed he understood that to some degree; the rugby team had taken the brunt of Arthur's foul moodswings.

Long story short, he opted for his fancy flat with an actual tub instead of communal showers, which got really, really annoying after a while. He only tolerated them because of Merlin. And Merlin was in Montreal.

Arthur started from the bath. _Merlin_. He'd completely forgotten his promise to call in the morning. Stumbling out of the bathroom still dripping wet, he reached for his phone on the nightstand.

_2 missed calls  
1 voicemail _

"Hey, it's me. Now that I think about it, you have track practice...I hope Crowell isn't working you lot over too hard. Yeah...anyhow, it's break here and I'm assigned to the psych ward today, seriously, it's not fun. Not at all like the movies. I'm going out with some of the other interns tonight, since we made it through our first week, somehow. Talk to you later?"

Arthur couldn't help but wonder if Will was one of those people. He hoped not. He played the message twice more before he went on the hunt for his extensive collection of takeout menus (most of which were Italian and gourmet.) The collection was probably gathering dust somewhere, since Merlin had a knack for cooking.

--

They were well into the semester by now, somehow, Arthur managed. He sufficed on two phone calls a day and sought the showers late at night for his solace. He'd call Merlin in the morning, and Merlin would call him at night. Perhaps it was because Merlin was so far away, he always had exciting stories to tell. He and some others had gone skydiving -- "Actually if you do it a couple of times, it gets to be pretty fun." He had learned how to make authentic sushi from an intern from Kyoto -- "The rice got all sticky, it was annoying. Sasaki says it happens all the time. But I'll make you some when I get back."

Merlin was getting on perfectly well without him. The fact that Arthur had no part in any of it made him anxious. Merlin was drifting further away from him...and for once, Arthur was at a loss. He lay quietly listening to Merlin babble, about hiking this time.

And then, "...Arthur? Are you all right? You're not saying much."

"I don't have anything to say." Arthur sounded snappish without intending to.

There was silence. "Did something happen today?"

"No."

"Come on, you can tell me." Merlin cajoled him gently, "I've worked the psych ward, whatever you have to tell me is really not going to scare me."

Then, Arthur couldn't stand Merlin. He always had to be so damn cheerful. "It's really nothing." He said firmly. "It's really nothing. Look, you're probably busy, I'm going to let you go, okay?"

"I don't have to go." Merlin said, "I"m just watching a movie. It's bad."

It was unreasonable, but Arthur in his fit of jealousy, didn't know how to continue the conversation. "I'm going to go." He announced curtly as he sat up. "I'm tired."

"Arthur--"

"Good night."

--

Until the day came when Merlin didn't pick up his phone at all. Granted, their phone conversations carried on as usual, but there existed an edge to it. Arthur was kind of expecting the day. Merlin seemed to have proved that he got on perfectly without Arthur's arm to hang on. Arthur called three times, on the second time he left a short message:

"Give me a call when you have the time." It was the shortest message he'd ever left Merlin to date, the 'if you feel like it.' was implied.

The third time Arthur called, the call was picked up on the fourth ring. The voice that sounded on the other end was not Merlin's.

"Hello?"

It was a male voice, with a hint of an Austrailian accent, and if anything; when Arthur closed his eyes, he saw someone accomplished, mature, worthy of Merlin. "...Where's Merlin?"

"He's sleeping. My name is Will, may I take a message to give him when he wakes up?"

Merlin was sleeping. Will was answering Merlin's phone. Arthur's brain shut itself down before he could piece all of the implications into plausible scenarios. "Why is he sleeping?"

"He hasn't been sleeping well lately. I guess he finally managed to bug someone into prescribing something for him."

"Someone like you?" He didn't even want to know what Merlin had bribed Will with.

"I can't give out prescriptions, I'm only an intern." Will laughed, and Arthur hated his laugh.

Arthur hung up. As expected, he didn't sleep at all that night.

--

It took another day for Arthur to regain his courage to reach for the phone. Maybe it was silly, but he was washed over by undisguised relief when Merlin picked up his phone. "...Merlin?"

"Well, yeah, it's my phone, the last time I checked." Merlin sounded normal, cheerful. A little tired, but cheerful. "How've you been? It seems like it's been a long time."

It has, Arthur agreed privately, almost 48 hours. "...Will picked up the last time I called." He said quietly.

There was a brief silence, "About that."

Arthur bit his lip, "Look...erm, it's all right." He forced out the words, hoping they didn't tremble too much. "If you really do want to, um...break up." Montreal had opened Merlin's eyes, and it was almost inevitable that he liked that world than the one that Arthur had to offer. "I mean, it'd be stupid if I grudged you about that, right?" Words just tumbled from his mouth without thought. "And I, um--"

"Arthur." Merlin cut him off. "Who said anything about breaking up?"

Suddenly, Arthur wanted nothing more than to slap himself good and hard across the face. "What?" He said stupidly. "What are you talking about?"

"I said, I'm not breaking up with you." If anything, Merlin sounded amused, "What? Do you want to break up? Did Cecilia Latham's charms finally get to you?"

"...Ew." Arthur made a face for good measure.

"Honestly...there was nothing going on. I haven't been sleeping well, so...I got Dr. Langley to prescribe something that'd knock me out for three hours." Merlin told him, "I told Will you might call so I asked him to pick up if you did."

"You told him to pick up?" Well, now Arthur felt like a full-fledged idiot. Which was just ironic because that was his pet name for Merlin most times.

"Well...yeah, should I not have? I knew you'd be worried."

Arthur said nothing. "Worried about the wrong thing." He admitted. What the hell else was he supposed to think when Will picked up the phone and Merlin was asleep?

"Arthur, you're funny, you know that?" Somehow, Merlin's laugh was wholly refreshing. "Do you really have so little faith in me? I thought better of you."

Because they never talked about the future. Arthur thought about it quite often, but never found the courage to bring it up. Here was Merlin, talking about faith so casually, faith took time and in that moment, it seemed the world was all right again. "You said you were suspicious of me. Am I not allowed to be protective of you?"

'But you're Arthur Pendragon."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Arthur knew he sounded more than a bit miffed.

"Nothing." Merlin said dismissively, "Anyway, I'll be back in a week or so, I'm expecting you to make all of this up to me."

Normally, Merlin wasn't the one for being bossy, but Arthur found himself smiling, one of those warm smiles that he kept for Merlin.

"Deal."


End file.
